Saturday, May 31, 2008

Walter Booth (1889-Feb. 1971)

Rob the Rover, by Walter Booth, began globe-trotting on 15 May 1920 in Alfred Harmsworth’s Puck which began 30 July 1904 by modeling itself after the American newspaper supplement. Rob was a foundling, alone on a raft in the sea, rescued by the old fisherman Dan who became his surrogate father. Adventures took place in in exotic locations, in Canada, in lost cities, and under the sea. Rob the Rover appeared all over the world sometimes pirated. A paper shortage in wartime ended Rob’s roving in May 1940 but Denis Gifford wrote in a 1971 article that “in a hundred dusty volumes and a million memories Rob roves ever on.”

Profile

Cartoonist, illustrator, storyteller, born in Nelson, B.C. in May 1950, has contributed to Chronicle, Weirdom, and Visions fanzines. John illustrated ‘Ronald and the Dragon’ by Lawrie Peters in 1975. Email: adcock34@gmail.com